World Travel & Tourism News

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Taiwan to let more Chinese tourists visit -premier

TAIPEI, April 19 (Reuters) - Taiwan's government said on Wednesday it will gradually open its door wider to Chinese tourists, days after Beijing issued new rules allowing authorised group tours to the island it claims as its own.

Premier Su Tseng-chang said a limit on the number of visitors from its giant neighbour was necessary due to national security concerns and to ensure the quality of their trips.

"We can't afford not to set any limits. We are not capable of handling 500,000 or 1 million people coming at the same time," state-funded Central News Agency quoted Su as telling a weekly cabinet meeting.

"The opening process must be step by step. We need to have an open attitude, provided that we have the ability to manage," Su was quoted as saying.

Taiwan's top China policy-maker, Joseph Wu, said the government would stick to an original proposal of 1,000 Chinese tourists a day, but might raise the ceiling later.

The tourism rules issued on Sunday continued Beijing's campaign of seeking to win over Taiwanese public opinion by holding out possible investment and trade rewards.

But it was unclear how soon such tours could start -- the two sides have wrangled over arrangements and political tensions remain high.

Taiwan's pro-independence government has refused to accept the island belongs to "one China" as a precondition for dialogue.

Taiwan and China have been split since 1949, when the Nationalists lost a civil war and fled to the island. China has threatened force if the island of 23 million people formally declares independence.

Both China and Taiwan place tight restrictions on mainland visits to the island. The trickle of mainlanders now able to travel there is tiny compared to the 4.1 million trips to the mainland last year by Taiwanese people, many of them investors.

Last week, China announced possible aviation, agriculture and finance concessions to Taiwan at an economic forum in Beijing attended by Chinese Communist officials and Taiwan's main opposition party, which favours closer ties with the mainland.

[hkskyline]

Cuba squabbles with partners over tourism dollar
By Marc Frank

HAVANA, April 21 (Reuters) - Cuba is becoming increasingly costly and less profitable for foreign tour operators, some of whom are canceling trips to the island nation and taking people to other Caribbean resorts, industry sources say.

They say Cuba and tourism companies are increasingly at odds, with the government seeking a greater share of shrinking profits even as the arrival of new visitors stagnate.

"Tour operators are canceling bookings and flights," a European hotel manager said. "They are making their money from places like the Dominican Republic and Mexico, but nothing from Cuba."

The Canadian Association of Tour Operators recently complained to the Cuban Ministry of Tourism about the lack of adequate service for tourists, theft at airports and hotels, and jet fuel costing 33 percent more than elsewhere.

"Rates have become completely uncompetitive with other tourist destinations in the Caribbean," the association said in the letter sent in January and obtained by Reuters.

Cuba opened up to foreign tourism and investment when the Soviet Union collapsed a decade ago, costing it a key ally and trading partner.

Tourist arrivals were up just 1 percent in the first two months of 2006, according to the government, while labor and other costs rose due to wage increases and the revaluation of the Cuban currency.

Canadians are the most numerous at Cuba's beach resorts, followed by Europeans. Few Americans visit the Caribbean island due to the U.S. embargo and travel restrictions.

Canada accounted for 26 percent of the 2.3 million tourists that visited Cuba in 2005, but the numbers dropped by more than 13,000, or 7 percent, in January and February.

More and more visitors come from other Caribbean and Latin American countries for medical reasons, particularly eye surgery funded by Venezuela. Foreign private companies play no part in the health travel trade.

TOURISM LESS IMPORTANT

In the last two years, preferentially financed oil supplies from Venezuela and a boom in medical and other service exports have eased the pressure on Cuba's treasury, making tourism less vital.

"The economy is doing a bit better and more revenues are coming in from Venezuelan supported health tourism so the government is less concerned about what foreign businesses think," a Western diplomat said.

Cuba eliminated the dollar from circulation 18 months ago, replacing it with the locally printed convertible peso, which Havana later revalued by 8 percent.

"Currency conversions put Canadian-dollar based contracts in Cuba at a disadvantage when compared to other destinations," the letter from the Canadian tour operators said.

Foreign companies administering and marketing Cuban hotels said they were also being squeezed.

"At my all-inclusive beach hotel January through March guests and revenues were more or less the same as in 2005, but profits fell 11 percent," said one hotel manager.

A Havana hotel manager said his profits were down more than 15 percent.

More than 18,000 of Cuba's 42,000-room hotel capacity are managed and marketed by 10 foreign companies, including Spain's Sol Melia, France's Accor or Jamaica's Super Clubs.

The foreign companies pay the Cuban state in hard currency for hiring staff, who then are paid by the government in local pesos worth 95 percent less.

Significant government increases in the local peso minimum wage and all salaries last year have meant hotels pay more convertible pesos to the hiring halls.

At the same time, the value of the convertible peso was increased by 8 percent against other currencies, further increasing labor and all other costs.

[hkskyline]

Taiwan hopes to conclude talks on Chinese tourism within months
2 June 2006

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan said Friday it hopes to conclude talks on allowing tourists from rival China to visit the island directly within four to five months.

At present Taiwan only allows Chinese tourists to enter its territory through a third point, usually Hong Kong.

"There seems to be progress in the talks with the Chinese side," said Joseph Wu, the Cabinet member in charge of relations with China. He did not elaborate.

Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, and Taiwan has since banned direct transportation links between the two sides.

Wu said the talks with China have focused on practical details including minimum income levels for would-be Chinese tourists and procedures for providing emergency care.

On a related issue, Wu said Taiwan may raise the daily quota of Chinese visitors to the island to 1,500 from the current threshold of 1,000.

Any decision to raise the quota will take into account the capacity of the island's hotels and infrastructure, he said.

Taiwan is also talking to China on regular passenger and cargo charter flights, Wu said, raising the prospect that the current regime of holiday flights could be expanded.

Taiwan and China offered charter flights for Taiwanese citizens in China during the Lunar Chinese New Year holidays in 2003, 2005, and 2006.

[hkskyline]

Cambodia awards French group a contract to operate coastal airport to boost tourism
20 July 2006

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - The government has awarded a French group a contract to upgrade and operate an airport in the coastal town of Sihanoukville in southwestern Cambodia, an official said Thursday.

The renovated airport, scheduled to be operational early next year, will diversify the destinations tourists can reach by air beyond the famous Angkor temples in the country's northwest, said Deputy Tourism Minister Thong Khon.

Thong Khon said the government awarded the contract to the Societe Concessionnaire des Aeroports, or SCA, a subsidiary of the French construction group Vinci, quite recently but was unable to say exactly when.

"So far, tourists coming to Cambodia can only visit Angkor temples while missing our attractive sea beaches," said Thong Khon. "So this airport will become a major link between the beach tourism and the Angkor temples."

Sihanoukville is also where Cambodia's main seaport is located.

Vinci, in a statement dated Tuesday, announced it had won a 35-year concession contract to upgrade and operate the airport.

The investment could reach US$200 million (euro160.23 million) over the concession period, and the airport will contribute "to development of tourism in a still largely untouched coastal region" of Cambodia, said the statement seen on Vinci's Web site on Thursday.

"Development of an international airport in Sihanoukville is a crucial challenge for the Cambodian economy," it said.

Sihanoukville has an old airport but it is in a state of disrepair, so until now tourists could visit Sihanoukville's beaches, 185 kilometers (115 miles) southwest of the capital Phnom Penh, only by road.

Vinci, through SCA, is also currently managing Cambodian airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap province, the home to the famed century-old Angkor monuments.

The tourism industry earns hundreds of millions of dollars (euros) every year for impoverished Cambodia.

In 2005, Cambodia welcomed 1.4 million tourists, more than half of whom visited the temples in Siem Reap province.

-----

On the Net:

Vinci: http://www.vinci.com/appli/vnc/vncus...b/homepage.htm

[hkskyline]

World Tourism Sets Record in 2006
By DANIEL WOOLLS
29 January 2007

MADRID, Spain (AP) - World tourism broke all records in 2006 despite fears over terrorism, bird flu and rising oil prices, the United Nations tourism watchdog reported Monday. A total of 842 million international tourist arrivals were recorded last year, an increase of 4.5 percent, the Madrid-based World Tourism Organization said, citing preliminary data.

That followed a 5.5 percent jump in 2005. But such strong growth figures are expected to slip in the future, the agency said, citing possible energy tax increases imposed to fight global warming.

Rising interest rates in some countries, and the impact on household debt, could also take a toll, the report said.

Africa posted the biggest growth rate in 2006 at 8.1 percent, benefiting from travelers' fears of terrorism elsewhere in the world.

"Although no destination is immune to terrorist attacks, sub-Saharan Africa in particular is seen as being a long way from the center of zones of tension and unrest," the agency said in a report.

Africa is also a lure because of its natural resources, including wildlife, and appeal as a place for "authentic" experiences for vacationers, it added.

Europe and the Middle East both posted growth rates of 4 percent, while Asia and the Pacific saw an increase of 7.6 percent. This strong performance was due "in no small part" to the recovery of Thailand and the Maldives islands from the destruction caused by the December 2004 tsunami, and good showings by countries including Japan and China.

The region with the weakest growth was the Americas -- just 2 percent -- due mainly to stagnation in arrivals in North America, the WTO said.

The cheaper U.S. dollar should in theory encourage travelers to head for the United States. But arrivals from western Europe, for instance, fell 3 percent.

Travel experts cited widespread confusion in long-haul markets over U.S. visa and passport requirements for foreign visitors, the WTO report said.

However, the United States remained the world's top tourism destination by revenue, followed by France and Spain.

[skyscraperboy]

Malaysia tops holiday poll

Malaysia has been voted as the best holiday destination in the world for 2006.

A poll of Global Traveller Magazine readers in the US put the south-east Asian country at the top of the list, which is good news for the country as it enters into 2007.

Malaysia's tourist board has launched a huge campaign as part of Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and officials are delighted that their message is getting through.

'Naturally, Tourism Malaysia is proud to receive the award which also confirms that our pre-publicity for the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 was a success,' said Azizan Noordin, Tourism Malaysia advertising director in Kuala Lumpur.

'Our media and advertising efforts are paying dividends now. The award is also testimony that Malaysia is now making a mark in the international arena.'

In total, 13,653 people took part in the survey and the result surprised many tourism experts.

Malaysia has long been a very popular tourist destination, but rarely tops polls carried out in America.

Other destinations that ranked well in the survey were Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy, Indonesia, Hawaii, Thailand, South Africa, Fiji and Australia.

[hkskyline]

Spectacular Colombian island in tourism battle
By Hugh Bronstein

ISLA BARU, Colombia, Feb 20 (Reuters) - To visitors, it is a paradise of white beaches and brilliant blue waters, but Colombia's Isla Baru has been scarred by a long fight for control between Afro-Colombian residents and hotel developers.

Armed security guards, paid by the government and private business groups, this month fired around the feet of locals trying to plant fields on contested property worth millions of dollars near the booming Caribbean coast tourist city of Cartagena.

No one was wounded but residents are scared. "Now we know they have orders to shoot at us, we're afraid for our lives," said Carlos Rincon, a farmer. "This is getting worse."

What local media have dubbed "The Battle for Baru" started in the 1970s when the government says it bought 300 hectares from business groups that say they still hold 200 hectares.

Together they have drawn up plans for a luxury resort and want to start building.

But the Afro-Colombian descendants of slaves who say they hold land titles dating back to the 1590s insist the purchase documents were falsified and that they never sold to anyone.

For years, residents have periodically tried to push back into areas they once controlled before being chased out again.

Manuela Miranda says she was detained in 1995 and flown to the capital Bogota where she was interrogated for two days in a hotel room and forced to sign papers saying she had sold her papaya farm

"They said they would take me up to the top of Monserrate and shoot me," she said, referring to a mountain peak that overlooks Bogota. "I ended up signing out of fear."

Miranda never gave up her land though, and says she filed a complaint with authorities despite notes placed under the door of her home telling her to keep quiet.

NO WINNERS

Neither side has won. The developers have been unable to build their hotels, and Isla Baru is mired in poverty.

The island traditionally lives from fishing and tropical fruits but most families have shabby homes, schools are poorly equipped, women carry water to their homes in buckets on their heads, and there are very few jobs.

"We'd like to get to the beach to fish but the guards won't let us through," said Sergio Morales, a father of four. "That's how we always fed our families before this conflict began."

The attorney general's office last year declined a government request to bring invasion of property charges against the locals, leaving the case at a standoff.

Oscar Rueda, Colombia's deputy minister for commerce, industry and tourism, says those who claim land rights must stop confronting security guards and take their case to court.

"They are attempting to invade," he told Reuters. "If you legally own a house you don't come at night with a group of friends and try to take over the property. You file a legal claim to get your house back."

Island residents say documents from the mayor's office in Cartagena prove the property is theirs.

"If the national government and the conglomerates want to contest that decision then they are the ones that must appeal in court," said their lawyer, Alvaro Luna.

A Reuters reporter was stopped by guards on the road to Baru's best beach, Playa Blanca, and forbidden to pass.

Nearby, Morvil Rocha lives in a metal shack close enough to what he claims is his land to watch security guards strolling through the wasting orange groves he once tended.

Families being pushed from their homes is nothing new in Colombia, where more than 3 million people have been displaced by decades of guerrilla war driven by the cocaine trade.

"We're willing to sell but we've never seen an offer," said Carmen Garcia, the owner of a small group of huts that serves as Playa Blanca's only hotel. "People are displaced in Colombia all the time, but by the war. This time it's by tourism.

[neil]

This thread is GREAT!!

[hkskyline]

FEATURE-No early harvest in China's rural tourism push
By Ben Blanchard

UPPER JIDAO, China, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A crystal river, lush fields, forest views and gentle village life should be all the ingredients Upper Jidao needs to attract tourists to this little piece of paradise in the world's most populous nation.

But hopes that tourism would boost this picturesque village in China's poor southwestern province of Guizhou have yet to come to fruition as the expected flood of rich Chinese tourists and foreign visitors has turned out to be little more than a trickle.

"We lack the infrastructure, the basic facilities. We need to build toilets, places for people to stay," said Pan Shengfu, the recently elected village head, standing in one of the narrow alleys that criss-cross the village.

"Visitors have high standards," he explained.

The village is at the heart of government efforts to raise rural incomes -- a third of the urban average -- by encouraging tourism in the vast countryside.

Rural issues, especially how to boost farmers' livelihoods, are likely once again to be in focus at this year's annual meeting of parliament, which opens in early March.

Places like Upper Jidao are at the heart of a government bid to revitalise rural China, left behind by an economic boom that has brought great wealth to many cities in China.

In recent years the rural tourism concept of "nong jia le" -- meaning "peasant family happiness" -- has taken off in more developed tourist areas like Yunnan and Sichuan provinces.

Last year, Guizhou earned some 38 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) from tourism and played host to around 47 million tourists, up by more than 50 percent from 2005, according to government figures. An estimated 10 percent of that came from "village tourism".

HIGH HOPES

At Upper Jidao, a village populated by ethnic Miao people, children play as their parents tend fields of lush, organically grown vegetables surrounded by towering pine forests.

Elderly women stoke fires in traditional wooden houses, some hundreds of years old. In the distance, a cow grazes.

The idyllic village and the Bala River region in which it sits was chosen for official tourist development in 2002.

Partly funded by the World Bank, foreign consultants were brought in to train villagers, English language signs were hung up and money was doled out.

Residents had high hopes that villagers, forced by poverty to leave for jobs in richer parts of China would return to Upper Jidao to work as tour guides, or run guest houses.

"We hoped everyone would be able to come home to help out," said village elder Pan Nianwu. "It hasn't developed as quickly as we had hoped," he added sadly.

Villagers welcome tourists to stay the night, in sparse but clean guest rooms, for just 10 yuan ($1.30) a person.

Yet the lack of bathrooms and extremely basic toilets have put many off, they say.

Still, the village looks tidy, and pigs are generally hidden away in sties under houses.

"I ask them what's changed in the village since opening up to tourism, and the usual response is 'things are much cleaner here'," said Jenny Chio, a University of California doctoral student researching tourism and development in southwest China.

"I think that's been a really positive benefit. What remains is that they need tourists now," she added.

Villagers estimate they received no more than a few thousand yuan from tourism last year, and much of that concentrated during the "golden week" holidays -- Lunar New Year, Labour Day in May and National Day in October -- started by the government to spur consumer spending.

"There's no regularity to the tourism income. It's more like a tip than a direct income. This is a big problem," said Chio.

HELP THE FARMERS

The rural tourism project has attracted support from the top echelons of power in Beijing.

The magazine Seeking Truth, the Communist Party's ideological journal, last month carried a long piece by National Tourism Administration head Shao Qiwei praising the idea, and recognising its potential importance for boosting the incomes of hundreds of millions of farmers.

"We must vigorously develop village tourism, putting into force the guiding principle of 'using tourism to help the farmers', to push the development of the new socialist countryside," Shao wrote.

Few places need the help more than Guizhou. It is so poor, mountainous and remote that there is a saying in China that the three things you'll never come across there are three days of sun, three acres of flat land and three grams of silver.

Chen Qin, 27, a member of Upper Jidao's tourism committee, is optimistic about the village's chances.

"Look at other villages. There has been a large improvement in their lives because of tourism," she said, dressed in a traditional, colourful Miao embroidered jacket.

Upper Jidao is getting 500,000 yuan in aid over the next three years from Ningbo, a city in the affluent eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, to improve its infrastructure.

"We can drink the water here, but if people come we're going to need flushing toilets," Chen added. "We are preparing." ($1=7.751 Yuan) (Additional reporting by Kitty Bu)

[hkskyline]

FEATURE-Marrakesh in two minds over tourism boom

MARRAKESH, Morocco, Feb 28 (Reuters Life!) - With its snake charmers, storytellers and palm trees against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains, Marrakesh was once an offbeat destination for rich or adventurous Europeans.

Now hotels, holiday homes and golf courses are transforming the ancient city into a mass tourism destination, leaving some residents fearing the development may be too much, too fast.

"Tourism brings only illnesses and social deviance," said one young man in a recent survey of local attitudes.

"You're wrong," interrupted his mother. "It is thanks to these people that we have bread to eat."

The government wants to double the number of tourists to Morocco to 10 million per year by 2010. Last year it approved investment projects around Marrakesh worth over $2 billion.

The aim is to divert some of Europe's wealth and narrow a glaring wealth gap.

Marrakesh may be only an hour by plane from Spain's Costa del Sol but it lies in a country that last year ranked 123rd out of 177 in the U.N. Human Development Index, which measures such factors as child mortality and health care.

The city's population has doubled in two decades as droughts led to a gradual exodus from the surrounding countryside.

Tourists are drawn to the old medina's narrow streets where mules and scooters jostle just yards from the trickling fountains of shaded traditional riad courtyard homes.

But veiled women sit begging near marble-clad riad hotels that cost up to 3,000 dirhams ($350) per night. Security guards are posted at the doors of new shopping malls.

Foreigners have bought and restored more than 1,000 riads in the medina, creating much-needed work for local craftsmen but also forcing house prices up five-fold in 10 years.

Some tourists flout travel advice and dress scantily, or sunbathe on their hotel terraces, shocking the local women hanging out their washing.

Ageing European men can be seen socialising with young Moroccan women in the city's night clubs, stirring suspicions that sex tourism is growing.

Europeans complain of being hassled to buy gifts -- without realising competition is fierce. One purchase could feed a shopkeeper's family for days.

RESPECT

Morocco's moderate Islamists, tipped to do well in parliamentary elections this year, say they would not reverse the government's tourism drive if elected.

But they say European tourists and home-buyers must respect local customs and pay decent wages to Moroccan employees.

"Some foreign residents took maids and security guards but did not pay them proper wages, just giving them old clothes and a few coins -- they saw luxury at a low cost," said Younes Bensliman of the Islamist Justice and Development Party.

Local activists say poverty and the breakdown of family ties leave many young people vulnerable to exploitation: newspapers have written of street orphans lured with gifts to houses where they were abused and filmed by foreigners.

"It's a growing phenomenon," Adil Abdellatif of Moroccan human rights group AMDH. "There are cases we know about but we know there are others. It's the tip of the iceberg."

Police have told worried locals that child sex tourism is not widespread and the situation is under control.

Little escapes the authorities because of Morocco's traditional network of "moqaddems" -- government agents who keep a close eye on local life and pay car park attendants and cigarette sellers for information.

In over 80 cases of child sexual abuse documented in Marrakesh since mid-2004 by the association "Ne touche pas a mon enfant" (Don't Touch My Child), eight involved foreigners, Abdellatif said.

WELCOMING

Many Marrakshis hotly deny they are swallowing their pride for the sake of tourist dollars and say they want visitors not just for their wallets but for the diversity they bring.

Unlike the more conservative cities of Rabat and Fez, Marrakesh has a tradition of welcoming strangers.

When the trans-Saharan caravan routes were still in use, it was a gateway to the south and in Djamaa El Fnaa square, peasants from the Atlas, Souss and Draa rubbed shoulders with Senegalese traders, Touaregs and Saharan "Blue Men".

The biggest change is taking place on the edge of town where leisure developments, swimming pools and lush lawns are spreading across the arid terrain.

Five golf courses have been built and developers have asked for permission to lay out another 10. With a new town, Tamansourt, due to house 300,000 people, farmers are worrying about dwindling water supplies.

Local officials say new dams under construction will capture enough water from the melting Atlas snows to feed the growing city. French-owned water company Lydec is building an 800-million-dirham ($95 million) plant to recycle used water that once spilled into the river and polluted the water table.

Farmers often waste half the water they use for irrigation and are being helped to invest in more efficient modern technology, said Abdelaziz Belkeziz, regional inspector at the ministry for land settlement, water and environment.

Officials say well-managed development could transform the lives of struggling families, but conversations with residents betray a sense of disquiet.

"It makes me uneasy when I see luxury hotels opening in poor parts of the medina," said Frenchwoman Laetitia Trouillet, who makes fashion accessories and organises tourist shopping trips.

Some Moroccans say foreigners aren't the only ones to blame.

"What shocks many Marrakshis, including myself, is the way some rich Moroccans splash their wealth around," said Fouad Chafiqi, a local academic and development consultant.

[hkskyline]

Terror will not affect India's tourism-lobby group

NEW DELHI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Terror attacks in India will not deter tourists from visiting the country as it has emerged as a major global tourist destination, Peter de Jong, president and CEO of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), said on Thursday.

PATA is the biggest coalition of travel and tourism companies in Asia-Pacific.

India has witnessed a string of terror attacks on trains and public places in the recent past.

The latest attack on Sunday was on a train -- the Samjhauta Express , which connects the Indian capital New Delhi to the Pakistani city of Lahore -- which killed 68 people.

"I don't -- as a consumer, let's say -- don't associate India at all with that kind of a threat," Jong told Reuters on the sidelines of the launch of a tourism report on India.

"I think India is seen in a very positive light and particularly in a culturally diverse light".

Despite lingering terror threats, particularly in key tourist destinations, visitors to India have increased.

About 4.4 million tourists visited India last year, which is around 13 percent more than in 2005, government data showed.

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism rose 23.2 percent on year to $822.5 million in December and analysts say there is tremendous potential for growth.

Jong said India had the potential of being a leader in tourism if it urgently tackled problems in infrastructure, aviation and hygiene where it is lagging behind other Asian destinations.

"Between the growth potential and the growth realised, there is a margin that could be narrowed if initiatives were taken by the government and the industry together ... to bridge the gap," he said.

Best known on the world tourist map as home to the Taj Mahal, India has been running a campaign to woo tourists to its grand palaces, golden beaches, ancient temples and wildlife sanctuaries.

[Stratosphere 2020]

Aruba Announces Over $350M in Tourism Investments Including Airport, Cruise & Hotel Developments


Aruba is enjoying significant developments throughout its tourism sector in 2007 with over $350 million in investments encompassing nearly every aspect of the travel industry. The changes to the tourism infrastructure include noteworthy upgrades at Queen Beatrix International Airport, the opening of a brand-new private jet terminal, remarkable advancements at the island’s cruise facilities, impressive expansions and renovations at many hotels and resorts and more.

Below is a list of developments underway in Aruba:

Aruba Airport Authority - Investments totaling over $35 million started at Queen Beatrix International Airport in 2006 and are underway through 2010. Improvements include:
- The opening of the first-ever private jet terminal (FBO) happened in January 2007. Customs and immigrations are available. Coming soon are a cafeteria, duty free stores, hotel and car rental outlets and more.
- Installation of four elevators.
- New central security area.
- Expanded runway and taxiway.

Cruise Terminal Facility and Marina
- Renovations underway at one of the three cruise terminals.
- Cargo and loading docks being moved from Oranjestad to Barcadera, Aruba.
- Former cargo areas will undergo multi-million dollar waterfront redevelopment expected to begin late 2007. Area to be transformed into waterfront marina that will include residential, retail and commercial components.

Hotels and Resorts – Aruba’s hotels and resorts are experiencing hundreds of millions in major investments.
- Occidental Grand Aruba - Finalized $24 million in investments and reopened in May 2006 as the island’s first luxury all-inclusive product.
- Westin Aruba Resort –Undertaking ten of millions in renovations and has been officially reflagged from the former Wyndham Aruba.
- RIU Aruba Grand – The Spanish hotel chain purchased the Aruba Grand and closed it for a $120 million facelift and expansion. When completed the hotel will open with 451 rooms, nearly triple the original 171 rooms.
- Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino opened its $5.2 million, 13,000-square-foot oceanfront Larimar Spa in November 2006.
- Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino – After a $40 million upgrade, the resort will boast a new lobby, upgraded rooms and more.
- Divi Resorts – Notable investments of well over $50 million are being made at Divi Resorts throughout Aruba. Changes include new rooms, villas, timeshare product and more.
- Bushiri Beach Resort – Spanish resort giant, Sol Melia is finalizing the purchase of the 153-room resort and has plans to expand the property to approximately 450 rooms.

New Airlift –
- Delta Airlines – New Sunday flight from JFK as of February 18.
- JetBlue Airlines– Daily, non-stop flights from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and second Saturday, non-stop flight.
- Tiara Air and Insel Air – Daily regional connections.

Linear Park – In the third and fourth quarter of 2007, groundbreaking is expected to begin on the longest linear park in the Caribbean. Aruba’s Linear Park is expected to span 10 miles from the airport to Eagle Beach. The $10 million project will include:
- Green zones
- Walking/jogging paths
- Oceanfront vistas

[hkskyline]

Louvre museum to build a branch in UAE
By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Tue Mar 6, 4:59 AM ET

France and the United Arab Emirates signed an agreement Tuesday to open a branch of the Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, despite criticism that the French government is peddling the country's artistic treasures.

Abu Dhabi officials want the Louvre to be one of five satellite art museums they hope to build on uninhabited Saadiyat Island, just off the city's Gulf-side corniche.

New York's Guggenheim museum also has signed on to build a franchise in the wealthy Gulf state.

Tuesday's deal was said to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi will display works from its museum in Paris as well as from other museums in and around the French capital, including the Pompidou Centre, the Musee d'Orsay and the Versailles palace.

In Paris, protesters warned that French museums could be selling their souls by lending too many works to museums abroad and questioned whether the government is turning France's rich artistic heritage into a commercial brand.

"Museums are not for sale," stated an online petition signed by several prominent members of the French art scene.

French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and the head of Abu Dhabi's tourism authority, Sheik Sultan bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, signed the agreement, which provides for the construction of a 260,000-square-foot museum that will open in 2012.

"This is a major achievement in Abu Dhabi's vision to become a world-class destination bridging global cultures," Emirates president Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a statement.

French President Jacques Chirac sent a message, read out by de Vabres, saying that the Emirates had "sealed a partnership with the world's most visited and well-known museum."

Designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will be a white discus-shaped building with irregular-shaped windows in the roof.

[hkskyline]

Bangladesh calls for boost to tourism in South Asia

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, March 15 (Reuters) - Bangladesh called on Thursday for tourism to be a top priority for the seven member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

"Efforts should be geared up for joint promotion of the SAARC region as a common tourist destination by pooling our resources together," Fakhruddin Ahmed, chief of Bangladesh's interim administration said while inaugurating a SAARC car rally at Cox's Bazar, a popular Bangladeshi seaside resort town.

The rally, designed to boost tourism in the region, will cross nearly 8,000 km (5,000 miles) from Bangladesh to Maldives through other SAARC countries -- India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

A total of 120 participants in 26 four-wheel drives from all SAARC states are participating in the month-long rally that will end on April 14 in Male, the capital of the Maldives.

SAARC was set up in 1985 to accelerate economic growth in one of the poorest regions in the world. During its 13th summit last year in Dhaka, the bloc decided to include Afghanistan at its next summit meeting in New Delhi on April 3-4.

[hkskyline]

Greek tourism demands better ferries, ports

ATHENS, March 13 (Reuters Life!) - Greek passenger ferries and dozens of popular Aegean island ports must urgently improve if the Mediterranean country is to continue cashing in on a bumper tourist market, industry officials said on Tuesday.

Tourism accounts for about 18 percent of the country's gross domestic product and roughly one in five jobs. But transport standards threaten to sour holidaymakers' experience.

Greece expects the third consecutive year of tourist growth since the 2004 Athens Olympics, partly thanks to more investment in the industry. But little has been channelled to improving ports and ferries, officials said. "There are a series of issues that must be tackled if we want to improve what we offer visitors, and these have to be addressed as soon as possible," said Yannis Evangelou, President of the Hellenic Association of Travel and Tourist Agencies.

More than 14 million tourists visited Greece last year, an increase of about 8 percent from 2005, and about 15 million are expected this year, industry and government officials have said.

Greece has made a determined effort in recent years to shake off its mass tourism image and lure more high-end visitors.

Gone are the days when island-hopping backpackers formed the staple diet of the industry which now boasts golf courses, spas and five star hotels.

But the coastal shipping industry, which ferries millions of tourists to the sun-drenched isles each year, needs serious upgrading, Evangelou told a news conference.

Late announcement of summer schedules, still to be issued in their entirety for this season, scarce routes for more remote islands, an ageing fleet and below-par on-board services compromise the sector.

"How can we book a trip to the island of Serifos, for example, if we do not know well in advance whether a ferry will sail there on that specific day," Evangelou said.

Evangelou said the state must dramatically increase spending to upgrade dozens of ports across the country to allow bigger ferries to dock there and boost visitor numbers.

Michalis Sakellis, president of the union of coastal shipping enterprises, conceded there were problems but said action was underway to remedy them next year, if not this.

"We are not perfect and there are problems," he said. "For the 2008 schedule we plan to publish travel schedules as early as this coming October to give sufficient time to plan in advance."

[hkskyline]

UN urges Internet use to boost Asia-Pacific tourism

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13, 2007 (AFP) - Governments and private operators should make greater use of the Internet to promote Asia-Pacific tourism, the United Nations said Tuesday as the industry gathered for its first regional e-tourism conference.

The Internet could be used to target tourists directly, rather than depending on tour operators, Arlette Verploegh, of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), told AFP.

"Implementing information and communication technologies (ICT) in the tourism sector can greatly promote tourism and contribute to growth and empowerment in the region's tourism sector," Verploegh said from Kota Kinabalu, in Malaysia's Sabah state, where UNCTAD and Malaysian tourism authorities were hosting the two-day conference, which ends Wednesday.

She said use of the Internet in tourism was currently limited to hotel websites and government tourism boards, which advertised attractions and services.

"It can be actually made to be more efficient, where (government and private operators) can better manage their operations by e-branding and e-marketing," Verploegh said.

"In this was they will not always be depending on a middleman. They can directly target their customers and decide on where, how, and what they should promote," she said.

Verploegh said countries which had practised e-tourism had seen a boost in revenues from the sector.

About 200 delegates representing tourism ministries, tour operators, transport companies and other industry members were attending the conference.

[hkskyline]

Science trumping tourism in China's "Valley of Kings"

XIAN, China, March 14, 2007 (AFP) - A heated debate over whether to excavate one of the 28 imperial tombs dotting the outskirts of China's ancient capital of Xian has resurfaced with a respected economist weighing in on the advantages to the nation of opening the royal grave.

"The cultural enlightenment from excavating the tomb of Qinshi Huang will surpass the pyramids of Egypt," Zhang Wuchang of Hong Kong University said in a recent article that has sparked the debate.

"Not starting excavations is the same as having nothing. Only by excavating will we find value capable of contributing to society."

Zhang's article, posted on his website late last year, drew heated reaction with the official Xinhua news agency reporting that over 240,000 people had weighed in with their own opinions.

According to Zhang, by opening up Qinshi Huang's tomb, the imperial tomb that accompanies Xian's famed terra-cotta warriors, tourism revenues in Shaanxi province would double.

"Many view this kind of thinking as the main problem facing China today," said Duan Qingbo, head of the excavation team of the Qinshi Huang mausoleum.

"A lot of officials are only thinking about money and the benefits that such an excavation will bring to them. Meanwhile they ignore the science," he said.

"If any dig is going to be undertaken we have to ensure that what is found can be preserved, otherwise we will be killing the chicken that lays the golden egg."

Over 40 million people have visited the mausoleum of Qinshi Huang, China's first emperor and ruler of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-207 BC), since the discovery of the terra-cotta warriors in 1974.

In the first half of 2006, 356,000 foreign visitors and 12.6 million domestic tourists visited Xian, both up around 13 percent from the previous year, bringing in revenues of 8.49 billion yuan (1.1 billion dollars), according to the Shaanxi Economic Information Centre.

Other leading candidates for excavation include the Han Yangling mausoleum of Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD) emperor Jing Di and the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Qianling mausoleum of emperor Gaozong and his powerful empress Wu Zetian.

The Qianlong mausoleum is already a prominent tourist site, while the Han Yangling museum opened last year.

Modern surveys indicate that the main burial vaults of the three imperial tombs remain undisturbed, Duan said.

Historic records however suggest that grave robbers cleaned out at least 17 of the Tang tombs in China's "Valley of the Kings," most of the nine nearby Han tombs and even Qinshi Huang's tomb that lies east of Xian.

Meanwhile, Duan recalls the late 1950 excavation of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Dingling Mausoleum near Beijing that was supposed to have brought China to the forefront of world archaeology.

The dig was a disaster due to poor quality work that was worsened by the intervening Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when Red Guards destroyed some of the finds, including the remains of the dead emperor.

"Chinese archaeologists have ruined many objects because excavations were not properly done and the technology was lacking," Duan said.

This not only includes the bodies of former emperors and empresses, but also clothes, paintings and any other artifacts susceptible to disintegration after being exposed to different atmospheric conditions following up to 2,200 years of burial, he said.

"Shaanxi province applied to excavate Qianling in 2000, but was turned down by (China's cabinet) based on the opinions of archaeologists around the country," Wu Xiaocong, curator of the Han Yangling Mausoleum, said.

"But techniques are getting better and if a tomb is going to be excavated, Qianling would likely be the first."

Wu's museum, in the northern outskirts of Xian, boasts state of the art techniques, with the ongoing dig being carried out under climate-controlled conditions that will ensure the preservation of the finds.

Such new techniques mean that the time is nearing when the state-protected imperial tombs may be excavated, he said.

According to written records, the Qianling tomb holds the Gaozong emperor's most precious possessions including paintings, silks, lacquer objects, ceramics, wooden objects, silver, gold and jewelled articles.

He is also said to be buried in a jade coffin, which purportedly can prevent the corpse from decaying.

Qinshi Huang's tomb is even more elaborate with historical records saying the coffin of the first emperor is encased in molten copper and sits in a large tomb chamber full of fine vessels, precious stones and rarities.

The ceiling of the chamber is studded with jewels that represent the stars, sun and moon, while on the floor rivers of mercury represent the earth.

"Certainly recent initial surveys have found high concentrations of mercury under the tomb chamber," mausoleum archaeologist Duan said. "But we will never know how accurate the historical records are until actual excavation takes place."

[Giorgio]

The Greek tourist numbers are extremely underwhelming IMO.

[jlshyang]

Originally Posted by [Gioяgos]

The Greek tourist numbers are extremely underwhelming IMO.

Greece is my dream destination. Only if i have enough savings...

[hkskyline]

Qantas launches domestic tourism business
April 13, 2007

QANTAS is branching into inbound tourism by setting up a new Sydney based business, Tour East Australia.

The new company will provide sightseeing tours and accommodation that can be wrapped into packages by travel wholesalers worldwide.

Qantas said Tour East Australia would be a wholly owned subsidiary of its Singapore based joint venture, Holiday Tours and Travel.

Qantas chief executive officer, Geoff Dixon, said Tour East Australia would begin operating on July 1.

"It will also provide a comprehensive travel service for the inbound meetings, incentives, conferences and events market, and offer a meet-and-greet airport transfer service for individual and group travellers," Mr Dixon said.

"Holiday Tours and Travel has considerable expertise in destination management, including an extensive network of destination management companies under the Tour East brand throughout Asia.

"The Qantas Group aims to further leverage this expertise as well as strengthen its involvement in growing inbound markets with the establishment of this new Australia-based subsidiary," the Qantas CEO said.

Mr Dixon said Qantas Holidays inbound business had grown more than 60 per cent in the past six months.

Qantas regional general manager for NSW, Simon Bernardi, will head Tour East Australia.

- AAP